Agencies/New Delhi

India will fully fund its Aids control programme federally, the health minister said yesterday, restoring support months after it was criticised for slashing its contribution and asking individual states to fill the gap.
India’s globally-lauded Aids programme has been in disarray since last year due to payment delays that worsened after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slashed the federal budget in February by a fifth and asked states to pitch in.
Several states complained of lack of clarity about how much they need to contribute and payment delays have left thousands of health workers unpaid and hampered prevention activities.
Health Minister J P Nadda said Modi had decided the expenses incurred in running the nationwide programme will be borne by New Delhi, effectively restoring the earlier funding arrangement.
“We can’t be complacent ... the government of India is very serious on this issue,” Nadda said while addressing a gathering on the occasion of World Aids Day in New Delhi.
It was not immediately clear whether the budget cut would be restored, but an official at the National Aids Control Organisation said they were in talks with the finance ministry.
The UN envoy for Aids in Asia and the Pacific said in October new HIV infections in India could rise for the first time in more than a decade, as states were mismanaging the prevention programme.
Government data released yesterday showed 86,000 new HIV infections were recorded in 2015, compared to 128,000 in 2007, but the rate of decline has slowed.
“The slowdown identified in the rate of decrease of new HIV infections in last few years is a key issue,” the government said in a statement. “The current estimates highlight key challenges that will need to be addressed with urgency.”
Meanwhile in Mumbai, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan said communicating about HIV/Aids is important in order to eliminate the social stigma associated with the disease.
“As long as we keep the communication (on HIV/Aids) going, people will remain informed and educated. The perceived social stigma should definitely be pulled down. That will be the day when the issues are more practically discussed and that’s when it becomes more effective,” Bachchan said during her World Aids Day message at Cooper Hospital in Mumbai.
“You actually address it as something that needs attention and what’s the action to follow. You have concerns of the social stigma of feeling gagged to actually communicate, that is what we’re constantly working towards. Once those barriers disappear, the work becomes more effective,” the actress added.
December 1 every year is celebrated as World Aids Day all over the world and the former beauty queen said that it as important as celebrating festivals.
“Among the many days such as festivals, the World Aids Day is equally important, because you’re drawing attention to something that is a part of humanity, part of our reality, which exists in the world and affects a lot of people,” she said.
“It is a current affair and once it has struck mankind it’ll forever remain a current affair,” she added.
Bachchan, who has been the Goodwill Ambassador of UNAIDS since 2012, is glad to be a part of the organisation’s cause.
“The United Nations had been communicating with me over a while for us to come on board together, as there are lots of causes that need attention.
“I was glad that at the time I did join hands with UN, it was with UNAIDS. I just wanted to help reach out to a lot of women across the world but largely even in our own country.”